Brave puppy born with no legs set for new wheels

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Joe Redmond

Published:19:00Wednesday 29 July 2015

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The life of Pendle’s most famous dog is set to change after a local business came forward and agreed to build some wheels to help him get around.

Five month old Roo from Pendle Dogs in Need was born without his two front legs meaning that he finds it difficult to get around when outside.

Angela Cooper from Pendle Dogs in Need with Roo during his latest fitting for his wheels at JD Engineering with director Philip Heyworth

But local firm JD Engineering have come to the rescue and are currently in the process of making the plucky chihuahua pup a pair of lightweight front wheels, meaning that he can look forward to playing outside with his pals for the first time in his life.

Paula Knowles, manager at Pendle Dogs in Need, says that this will be massive for Roo.

She said: “At the moment he copes fabulously in the house, but when he’s out an about he struggles to go and play with his friends or go on the fields.

“He’s an absolute character, when he first came to us he was quite scared and quite subdued, but he’s starting to gain some confidence and come out of his shell now.

This is massive for Roo, this means he can go out and play

Paula Knowles, manager at Pendle Dogs in Need

“We want to give him what he needs which is a normal lifestyle.

“But he’s going to run rings around us when he finally gets these wheels on, we’ll have our work cut out.”

Other than being born without his two front legs Roo is a perfectly healthy dog.

However Paula admits that it is a relief to finally get him some wheels and make him more mobile.

Paula Knowles, Philip Heyworth and Angela Cooper with Roo

“We originally had a few options open to us such as getting Roo fitted with some artificial legs, but we didn’t really want to go down that route because Roo’s fine in the house, he’s fully mobile.

“The wheels are just going to give him that something extra so he can go outside the home and visit our events, and to see him doing that will be absolutely fabulous.”

JD Engineering, which is run by father and son team Jack and Philip Heyworth, decided to help Roo after becoming aware of his situation.

Philip, director of technology and innovation at the firm, said: “The situation with Roo came to our attention through social media, and being a local company we always strive to do what we can to help the local area.”

The firm specialise in making parts for the aerospace industry, but has recently branched out into 3D printing, which is how the chest plate for the wheels will be made.

Philip explained: “We’ll start by making a plate that can strap around his back and sit on his chest then add two wheels at the front where his legs would normally be.

“This will enable Roo to be able to push a long with his back legs, but we’ve got to make sure we make it light enough so that it won’t impede his movement in any way.

“We’ve found a design that we’re going to modify which was originally for a labrador, so what we’ll do is adjust this for Roo’s size and build a titanium structure underneath.

“As soon as we can get this design approved we’ll get underway with making it straight away, we want to see him up and about as much as everyone else does.”